THE DUKE ENDOWMENT
ESTABLISHED BY
JAMES B. DUKE
360.9T3
DStXi.
UNIVERSITY
OF FLORIDA
LIBRARY
THE DUKE ENDOWMENT
ESTABLISHED BY
JAMES B. DUKE
Indenture of James B. Duke
Establishing
The Duke Endowment
With Provisions of the Will
AND A Trust of Mr. Duke
Supplementing the Same
4-
Also an Address
By William R. Perkins
Personal Counsel of Mr. Duke
On the Origin, Nature and Purpose of
The Duke Endowment
3(iO. 973
FOREWORD
The Duke Endowment was created by trust indenture exe-
cuted by James B. Duke on December 11, 1924, by which he
conveyed for its purposes shares of stock in various corporations
as therein particularly set forth.
On the same day Mr. Duke executed his will, by the eighth,
tenth and eleventh items of which, as changed by subsequent
codicil, he very greatly augmented the properties of The Duke
Endowment.
In addition, at the same time, Mr. Duke created a second
trust, the provisions of which may hereafter, but have not as
yet, still further increase the properties and income of The
Duke Endowment.
This pamphlet reproduces these provisions by Mr. Duke for
his philanthropy.
The income of The Duke Endowment from its creation to
date, came 39.16% from stock held by it in the Duke Power
Company and 60.84% from other sources.
The Duke Endowment, from its creation through the year
1931, had made the following distribution of income, all within
the States of North Carolina and South Carolina:
For Superannuated Preachers
For Rural Churches
For Care of Orphans
For Hospitalization
For Operating Educational Institutions
$160,541.50
$520,924.55
$672,422.47
$4,461,582.49
$4,627,194.81
July 13, 1932.
7/s's'a
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2016 with funding from
University of Florida, George A. Smathers Libraries
https://archive.org/details/indentureofjamesOOslsn
THE
DUKE ENDOWMENT INDENTURE
This Indenture made in quadruplicate this
11th day of December, 1924, by and between
James B. Duke, residing at Duke Farms, near
Somerville, in the County of Somerset, and State
of New Jersey, United States of America, party
of the first part, and Nanaline H. Duke, of Som-
erville, N. J., George G. Allen, of Hartsdale, N.
Y., William R, Perkins, of Montclair, N. J.,
William B. Bell, of New York City, N. Y.,
Anthony J. Drexel Biddle, Jr., of New York
City, N. Y., Walter C. Parker, of New Rochelle,
N. Y., Alex. H. Sands, Jr., of Montclair, N. J.,
William S. Lee, of Charlotte, N. C., Charles I.
Burkholder, of Charlotte, N. C., Norman A.
Cocke, of Charlotte, N. C., Edward C. Mar-
shall, of Charlotte, N. C. and Bennette E.
Geer, of Greenville, S. C. as trustees and their suc-
cessors as trustees under and in accordance with the
terms of this Indenture, to be known as the Board
of Trustees of this Endowment, parties of the sec-
ond part.
2 The Duke Endowment
WITNESSETH :
That in order to efifectuate the trusts hereby
created, the first party has given, assigned, trans-
ferred and delivered, and by these presents does
give, assign, transfer and deliver, the following
property, to wit:
122,647 Shares of Stock of Duke Power Com-
pany, a corporation organized and existing
under the laws of the State of New Jersey.
100.000 Ordinary Shares of the Stock of British-
American Tobacco Company, Limited, a
corporation organized and existing under
the laws of Great Britain.
75.000 Shares of the Common “B” Stock of
R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, a cor-
poration organized and existing under the
laws of said State of New Jersey.
5.000 Shares of the Common Stock of George
W. Helme Company, a corporation organ-
ized and existing under the laws of said
State of New Jersey.
12,325 Shares of the Stock of Republic Cotton
Mills, a corporation organized and existing
under the laws of the State of South
Carolina.
The Indenture
3
7,935-3/10 Shares of the Common Stock of Jud-
son Mills, a corporation organized and ex-
isting under the laws of said State of South
Carolina.
unto said trustees and their successors as trustees
hereunder, in trust, to be held, used, managed, ad-
ministered and disposed of, as well as all additions
and accretions thereto and all incomes, revenues
and profits thereof and therefrom, forever for the
charitable purposes, in the manner and upon the
terms herein expressly provided, and not other-
wise, namely :
First.
The trust established by this Indenture is hereby
denominated The Duke Endowment, and shall
have perpetual existence.
Second.
Each trustee herein named, as well as each trus-
tee selected hereunder, shall be and remain a
trustee so long as such trustee shall live and con-
tinue mentally and physically capable of perform-
ing the duties of a trustee hereunder, subject to
resignation and to removal as hereinafter stated.
The number of trustees within two years from the
4
The Duke Endowment
date of this Indenture shall be increased to, and
thereafter remain at, fifteen, such increase being
made by vote of the trustees at any meeting. He
suggests, but does not require, that, so far as prac-
ticable, no one may be selected trustee if thereby at
such time a majority of the trustees be not natives
and/or residents of the States of North Carolina
and/or South Carolina. It is the wish of the
party of the first part, and he so directs, that
his daughter, Doris Duke, upon attaining the age
of twenty-one years, shall be made a trustee here-
under, for that purpose being elected to fill any
vacancy then existing, or, if there be no such vac-
ancy, added to the trustees thereby making the
number of trustees sixteen until the next occur-
ring of a vacancy, whereupon the number of trus-
tees shall again become and remain fifteen.
Subject to the terms of this Indenture, the trus-
tees may adopt and change at any time rules and
regulations which shall govern in the management
and administration of the trust and trust property.
Meetings of the trustees shall be held at least ten
times in each calendar year at such time and place
and upon such notice as the rules and regulations
may provide. Other meetings of the trustees may be
held upon the call in writing of the chairman or a
vice-chairman or any three trustees given in ac-
The Indenture
5
cordance with the rules and regulations, at such
place and time and for such purpose as may be
specified in the call. A majority of the then trustees
shall constitute a quorum at any such meeting, but
less than a majority may adjourn any such meeting
from time to time and from place to place until a
quorum shall be present. The affirmative vote of
the majority of a quorum shall be necessary and
sufficient at any such meeting to authorize or ratify
any action by the trustees hereunder, except as
herein otherwise expressly provided. Written rec-
ords, setting forth all action taken at said meetings
and the voting thereon, shall be kept in a perma-
nent minute book of the trustees, and shall be signed
by each trustee present at the meeting.
The trustees shall select annually from their
number a chairman and two vice-chairmen, and a
secretary and a treasurer, who need not be trustees.
Such officers shall hold office for one year and
thereafter until their respective successors shall be
selected. The compensation of the secretary and
treasurer shall be that fixed by the trustees.
The trustees shall establish an office, which may
be changed from time to time, which shall be
known as the principal office of this trust, and at it
shall be kept the books and papers other than
securities relating to this trust.
6
The Duke Endowment
By the affirmative vote of a majority of the then
trustees any officer, and by the affirmative vote of
three-fourths of the then trustees any trustee, may
be removed for any cause whatever at any meeting
of the trustees called for the purpose in accordance
with the rules and regulations.
Vacancies occurring among the trustees from
any cause whatever (for which purpose an increase
in the number of trustees shall be deemed to cause
vacancies to the extent of such increase in number
of trustees) may be filled by the remaining trustees
at any meeting of the trustees, and must be so filled
within six months after the vacancy occurs; pro-
vided that no person (except said Doris Duke)
shall remain or become a trustee hereunder who
shall not be or at once become a trustee under the
trust this day being created by the party of the first
part by Indenture which will bear even date here-
with for his said daughter and his kin and their de-
scendants, so long as said latter trust shall be in
existence.
Each trustee shall be paid at the end of each
calendar year one equal fifteenth part of three per
cent of the incomes, revenues and profits received
by the trustees upon the trust properties and estate
during such year, provided that if any trustee by
reason of death, resignation, or any other cause,
The Indenture
7
shall have served during only a part of such year,
there shall be paid to such trustee, if alive, or if
such trustee be dead then to the personal represen-
tatives of such trustee, such a part of said one-fif-
teenth as the time during which said trustee served
during such year shall bear to the whole of such
year, such payment to be in full for all services as
trustee hereunder and for all expenses of the trus-
tees. In the event that any trustee shall serve in any
additional capacity (other than as chairman or
vice-chairman) the trustees may add to the forego-
ing compensation such additional compensation as
the trustees may think such trustee should receive
by reason of serving in such additional capacity.
No act done by any one or more of the trustees
shall be valid or binding unless it shall have been
authorized or until it shall be ratified as required
by this Indenture.
The trustees are urged to make a special effort
to secure persons of character and ability, not only
as trustees, but as officials and employees.
Third.
For the purpose of managing and administering
the trust, and the properties and funds in the trust,
hereby created, said trustees shall have and may
exercise the following powers, namely:
The Duke Endowment
To manage and administer in all respects the
trust hereby created and the properties and funds
held and arising hereunder, in accordance with the
terms hereof, obtaining and securing for such pur-
pose such assistants, office space, force, equipment
and supplies, and any other aid and facilities, upon
such terms, as the trustees may deem necessary from
time to time.
To hold, use, manage, administer and dispose of
each and every of the properties which at any time,
and from time to time, may be held in this trust,
and to collect and receive the incomes, revenues
and profits arising therefrom and accruing thereto,
provided that said trustees shall not have power to
dispose of the whole or any part of the share capital
(or rights of subscription thereto) of Duke Power
Company, a New Jersey corporation, or of any
subsidiary thereof, except upon and by the affirma-
tive vote of the total authorized number of trustees
at a meeting called for the purpose, the minutes of
which shall state the reasons for and terms of such
sale.
To invest any funds from time to time arising or
accruing through the receipt and collection of in-
comes, revenues and profits, sale of properties, or
otherwise, provided the said trustees may not lend
the whole or any part of such funds except to said
The Indenture
9
Duke Power Company, nor may said trustees in-
vest the whole or any part of such funds in any
property of any kind except in securities of said
Duke Power Company, or of a subsidiary thereof,
or in bonds validly issued by the United States of
America, or by a State thereof, or by a district,
county, town or city which has a population in ex-
cess of fifty thousand people according to the then
last Federal census, which is located in the United
States of America, which has not since 1900 de-
faulted in the payment of any principal or interest
upon or with respect to any of its obligations, and
the bonded indebtedness of which does not exceed
ten per cent of its assessed values. Provided further
that whenever the said trustees shall desire to invest
any such funds the same shall be either lent to said
Duke Power Company or invested in the securities
of said Duke Power Company or of a subsidiary
thereof, if and to the extent that such a loan or such
securities are available upon terms and conditions
satisfactory to said trustees.
To utilize each year in accordance with the terms
of this Indenture the incomes, revenues and profits
arising and accruing from the trust estate for such
year in defraying the post, expenses and charges in-
curred in the management and administration of
this trust and its funds and properties, and in ap-
lo The Duke Endowment
plying and distributing the net amount of such in-
comes, revenues and profits thereafter remaining to
and for the objects and purposes of this trust.
As respects any year or years and any purpose or
purposes for which this trust is created (except the
payments hereinafter directed to be made to Duke
University) the trustees in their uncontrolled dis-
cretion may withhold the whole or any part of said
incomes, revenues and profits which would other-
wise be distributed under the “Fifth” division
hereof, and either ( 1 ) accumulate the whole or any
part of the amounts so withheld for expenditures
(which the trustees are hereby authorized to make
thereof) for the same purpose in any future year
or years, or (2) add the whole or any part of the
amounts so withheld to the corpus of the trust, or
(3) pay, apply and distribute the whole or any part
of said amounts to and for the benefit of any one or
more of the other purposes of this trust, or (4) pay,
apply and distribute the whole or any part of said
amounts to or for the benefit of any such like char-
itable, religious or educational purpose within the
State of North Carolina and/or the State of South
Carolina, and/or any such like charitable hospital
purpose which shall be selected therefor by the
affirmative vote of three-fourths of the then trus-
tees at any meeting of the trustees called for the
The Indenture
1 1
purpose, complete authority and discretion in and
for such selection and utilization being hereby
given the trustees in the premises.
By the consent of three-fourths of the then trus-
tees expressed in a writing signed by them, which
shall state the reasons therefor and be recorded in
the minutes of the trustees, and not otherwise, the
trustees may ( 1 ) cause to be formed under the laws
of such state or states as may be selected by the trus-
tees for that purpose a corporation or corporations
so incorporated and empowered as that the said
corporation or corporations can and will assume
and carry out in whole or in part the trust hereby
created, with the then officers and trustees hereof
officers and directors thereof, with like powers and
duties, and (2) convey, transfer and deliver to said
corporation or corporations the whole or any part
of the properties then held in this trust, to be held,
used, managed, administered and disposed of by
said corporation or corporations for any one or
more of the charitable purposes expressed in this
Indenture and upon all the terms and with all the
terms, powers and duties expressed in this Inden-
ture with respect to the same, provided that such
conveyances, transfers and deliveries shall be upon
such terms and conditions as that in case any such
corporation or corporations shall cease to exist for
12
The Duke Endowment
any cause the property so transferred shall forth-
with revert and belong to the trustees of this trust
and become a part of the corpus of this trust for all
the purposes thereof.
Said trustees shall have and may exercise, subject
to the provisions of this Indenture, any and all
other powers which are necessary or desirable in
order to manage and administer the trust and the
properties and funds thereof and carry out and per-
form in all respects the terms of this Indenture ac-
cording to the true intent thereof.
Any assignment, transfer, bill of sale, deed, con-
veyance, receipt, check, draft, note, or any other
document of paper whatever, executed by or on be-
half of the trustees, shall be sufficiently executed
when signed by the person or persons authorized
so to do by a resolution of the trustees duly adopted
at any meeting and in accordance with the terms of
such resolution.
Fourth.
The trustees hereunder are hereby authorized
and directed to expend as soon as reasonably may
be not exceeding Six Million Dollars of the corpus
of this trust in establishing at a location to be se-
lected by them within the State of North Carolina
an institution of learning to be known as Duke Uni-
The Indenture
13
versity, for such purpose to acquire such lands and
erect and equip thereon such buildings according
to such plans as the trustees may in their judgment
deem necessary and adopt and approve for the pur-
pose, to cause to be formed under the laws of such
state as the trustees may select for the purpose a
corporation adequately empowered to own and op-
erate such properties under the name Duke Uni-
versity as an institution of learning according to the
true intent hereof, and to convey to such corpora-
tion when formed the said lands, buildings and
equipment upon such terms and conditions as that
such corporation may use the same only for such
purposes of such university and upon the same
ceasing to be so used then the same shall forthwith
revert and belong to the trustees of this trust as and
become a part of the corpus of this trust for all of
the purposes thereof.
However, should the name of Trinity College,
located at Durham, North Carolina, a body politic
and incorporate, within three months from the date
hereof (or such further time as the trustees hereof
may allow) be changed to Duke University, then,
in lieu of the foregoing provisions of this division
“Fourth” of this Indenture, as a memorial to his
father, Washington Duke, who spent his life in
Durham and whose gifts, together with those of
14 The Duke Endowment
Benjamin N. Duke, the brother of the party of the
first part, and of other members of the Duke fam-
ily, have so largely contributed toward making pos-
sible Trinity College at that place, he directs that
the trustees shall expend of the corpus of this trust
as soon as reasonably may be a sum not exceeding
Six Million Dollars in expanding and extending
said University, acquiring and improving such
lands and erecting, removing, remodeling and
equipping such buildings, according to such plans,
as the trustees may adopt and approve for such pur-
pose to the end that said Duke University may
eventually include Trinity College as its under-
graduate department for men, a School of Re-
ligious Training, a School for Training Teachers,
a School of Chemistry, a Law School, a Co-ordi-
nate College for Women, a School of Business Ad-
ministration, a Graduate School of Arts and
Sciences, a Medical School and an Engineering
School, as and when funds are available.
Fifth.
The trustees hereof shall pay, apply, divide and
distribute the net amount of said incomes, revenues
and profits each calendar year as follows, to wit :
Twenty per cent of said net amount shall be re-
tained by said trustees and added to the corpus of
The Indenture
15
this trust as a part thereof for the purpose of in-
creasing the principal of the trust estate until the
total aggregate of such additions to the corpus of
the trust shall be as much as Forty Million Dollars.
Thirty-two per cent of said net amount not re-
tained as aforesaid for addition to the corpus of this
trust shall be paid to that Duke University for
which expenditures of the corpus of the trust shall
have been made by the trustees under the
“Fourth” division of this Indenture so long as its
name shall be Duke University and it shall not be
operated for private gain, to be utilized by its
Board of Trustees in defraying its administration
and operating expenses, increasing and improving
its facilities and equipment, the erection and en-
largement of buildings and the acquisition of addi-
tional acreage for it, adding to its endowment, or in
such other manner for it as the Board of Trustees
of said institution may from time to time deem to
be to its best interests, provided that in case such
institution shall incur any expense or liability be-
yond provision already in sight to meet same, or in
the judgment of the trustees under this Indenture
be not operated in a manner calculated to achieve
the results intended hereby, the trustees under this
Indenture may withhold the whole or any part of
such percentage from said institution so long as
i6
The Duke Endowment
such character of expense or liabilities or opera-
tions shall continue, such amounts so withheld to be
in whole or in part either accumulated and ap-
plied to the purposes of such University in any
future year or years, or utilized for the other
objects of this Indenture, or added to the corpus
of this trust for the purpose of increasing the
principal of the trust estate, as the trustees may
determine.
Thirty-two per cent of said net amount not re-
tained as aforesaid for addition to the corpus of this
trust shall be utilized for maintaining and securing
such hospitals, not operated for private gain, as the
said trustees, in their uncontrolled discretion, may
from time to time select for the purpose and are
located within the States of North Carolina and/or
South Carolina, such utilization to be exercised in
the following manner, namely; (a) By paying to
each and every such hospital, whether for white or
colored, and not operated for private gain, such
sum (not exceeding One Dollar) per free bed per
day for each and every day that said free bed may
have been occupied during the period covered by
such payment free of charge by patients unable to
pay as the amount available for this purpose here-
under will pay on a pro rata basis; and (b) in the
event that said amount in any year shall be more
The Indenture
17
than sufficient for the foregoing purpose, the whole
or any part of the residue thereof may be expended
by said trustees in assisting in the erection and/or
equipment within either or both of said States of
any such hospital not operated for private gain,
payment for this purpose in each case to be in such
amount and on such terms and conditions as the
trustees hereof may determine. In the event that
said amount in any year be more than sufficient for
both of the aforesaid purposes, the trustees in their
uncontrolled discretion may pay and expend the
whole or any part of the residue thereof in like
manner for maintaining and securing hospitals not
operated for private gain in any other State or
States, giving preference, however, to those States
contiguous to the States of North Carolina and
South Carolina. And said trustees as respects any
year may exclude from participation hereunder
any hospital or hospitals which the trustees in their
uncontrolled discretion may think so financed as
not to need, or so maintained and operated as not
to deserve, inclusion hereunder.
Five per cent of said net amount not retained as
aforesaid for addition to the corpus of the trust
shall be paid to Davidson College (by whatever
name it may be known) now located at Davidson,
in the State of North Carolina, so long as it shall
i8
The Duke Endowment
not be operated for private gain, to be utilized by
said institution for any and all of the purposes
thereof.
Five per cent of said net amount not retained as
aforesaid for addition to the corpus of the trust
shall be paid to Furman University (by whatever
name it may be known) now located at Greenville,
in the State of South Carolina, so long as it shall
not be operated for private gain, to be utilized by
said institution for any and all of the purposes
thereof.
Four per cent of said net amount not retained as
aforesaid for addition to the corpus of the trust
shall be paid to the Johnson C. Smith University
(by whatever name it may be known), an institu-
tion of learning for colored people, now located at
Charlotte, in said State of North Carolina, so long
as it shall not be operated for private gain, to be
utilized by said institution for any and all of the
purposes thereof.
Ten per cent of said net amount not retained as
aforesaid for addition to the corpus of this trust
shall be paid and distributed to and among such of
those organizations, institutions, agencies and/or
societies, whether public or private, by whatsoever
name they may be known, not operated for private
gain, which during such year in the judgment of
The Indenture
19
said trustees have been properly operated as or-
ganizations, institutions, agencies and/or societies
for the benefit of white or colored whole or half
orphans within the States of North Carolina
and/or South Carolina, and in such amounts as
between and among such organizations, institu-
tions, agencies and/or societies as may be selected
and determined as respects each year by said trus-
tees in their uncontrolled discretion, all such pay-
ments and distributions to be used by such organi-
zations, institutions, agencies and/or societies
exclusively for the benefit of such orphans.
Two per cent of said net amount not retained as
aforesaid for addition to the corpus of the trust
shall be paid and expended by the trustees for the
care and maintenance of needy and deserving su-
perannuated preachers and needy and deserving
widows and orphans of deceased preachers who
shall have served in a Conference of the Metho-
dist Episcopal Church, South (by whatever name
it may be known) located in the State of North
Carolina.
Six per cent of said net amount not retained as
aforesaid for addition to the corpus of the trust
shall be paid and expended by the trustees in as-
sisting (that is, in giving or lending in no case more
than fifty per cent of what may be required for the
20
The Duke Endowment
purpose) to build Methodist churches under and
connected with a Conference of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, South (by whatever name it
may be known) located in the State of North Car-
olina, but only those churches located in the
sparsely settled rural districts of the State of North
Carolina, and not in any city, town or hamlet, in-
corporated or unincorporated, having a population
in excess of fifteen hundred people according to the
then last Federal census.
Four per cent of said net amount not retained as
aforesaid for addition to the corpus of the trust
shall be paid and expended by the trustees in as-
sisting (that is, in giving or lending in no case
more than fifty per cent of what may be required
for the purpose) to maintain and operate the
Methodist churches of such a Conference which
are located within the sparsely settled rural dis-
tricts of the State of North Carolina, and not in
any city, town or hamlet, incorporated or unincor-
porated, having a population in excess of fifteen
hundred people according to the then last Federal
census.
Expenditures and payments made hereunder for
maintaining such superannuated preachers, and
such widows and orphans, as well as for assisting
to build, maintain and operate such Methodist
The Indenture
21
churches, shall be in the uncontrolled discretion of
the trustees as respects the time, terms, place,
amounts and beneficiaries thereof and therefor;
and he suggests that such expenditures and pay-
ments be made through the use of said Duke Uni-
versity as an agency for that purpose so long as
such method is satisfactory to the trustees hereof.
Sixth.
Subject to the other provisions of this Indenture,
said trustees may pay, apply, divide and distribute
such incomes, revenues and profits at such time or
times as may in their discretion be found best suited
to the due administration and management of this
trust, but only for the purposes allowed by this In-
denture.
In the event that any stock dividend or rights
shall be declared upon any of the stock held under
this instrument, the said stock and rights distrib-
uted pursuant thereto shall for all purposes be
treated and deemed to be principal even though
the said stock dividend and/or rights shall repre-
sent earnings.
No trustee hereby appointed and no trustee se-
lected in pursuance of any powers herein contained
shall be required to give any bond or other security
22
The Duke Endowment
for the performance of his, her or its duties as such
trustee, nor shall any trustee be required to reserve
any part of the income of any investment or security
for the purpose of creating a sinking fund to retire
or absorb the premium in the case of bonds or any
other securities w^hatever taken over, purchased or
acquired by the trustees at a premium.
The term “subsidiary” as herein used shall mean
any company at least fifty-one per cent of the vot-
ing share capital of which is owned by said Duke
Power Company.
The party of the first part hereby expressly re-
serves the right to add to the corpus of the trust
hereby established by way of last will and testament
and/or otherwise, and in making such additions to
stipulate and declare that such additions and the
incomes, revenues and profits accruing from such
additions shall be used and disposed of by the trus-
tees for any of the foregoing and/or any other
charitable purposes, with like effect as if said ad-
ditions, as well as the terms concerning same and
the incomes, revenues and profi|s thereof, had been
originally incorporated herein. In the absence of
any such stipulation or declaration each and every
such addition shall constitute a part of the corpus
of this trust for all of the purposes of this Inden-
ture.
The Indenture 23
Seventh.
The party of the first part hereby declares for the
guidance of the trustees hereunder :
For many years I have been engaged in the de-
velopment of water powers in certain sections of
the States of North Carolina and South Carolina.
In my study of this subject I have observed how
such utilization of a natural resource, which other-
wise would run in waste to the sea and not remain
and increase as a forest, both gives impetus to in-
dustrial life and provides a safe and enduring in-
vestment for capital. My ambition is that the rev-
enues of such developments shall administer to the
social welfare, as the operation of such develop-
ments is administering to the economic welfare, of
the communities which they serve. With these
views in mind I recommend the securities of the
Southern Power System (the Duke Power Com-
pany and its subsidiary companies) as the prime
investment for the funds of this trust ; and I advise
the trustees that they do not change any such in-
vestment except in response to the most urgent and
extraordinary necessity; and I request the trustees
to see to it that at all times these companies be
managed and operated by the men best qualified
for such a service.
24
The Duke Endowment
I have selected Duke University as one of the
principal objects of this trust because I recognize
that education, when conducted along sane and
practical, as opposed to dogmatic and theoretical,
lines, is, next to religion, the greatest civilizing in-
fluence. I request that this institution secure for its
officers, trustees and faculty men of such outstand-
ing character, ability and vision as will insure its
attaining and maintaining a place of real leader-
ship in the educational world, and that great care
and discrimination be exercised in admitting as
students only those whose previous record shows a
character, determination and application evincing
a wholesome and real ambition for life. And I ad-
vise that the courses at this institution be arranged,
first, with special reference to the training of
preachers, teachers, lawyers and physicians, be-
cause these are most in the public eye, and by pre-
cept and example can do most to uplift mankind,
and, second, to instruction in chemistry, economics
and history, especially the lives of the great of
earth, because I believe that such subjects will most
help to develop our resources, increase our wisdom
and promote human happiness.
I have selected hospitals as another of the prin-
cipal objects of this trust because I recognize that
they have become indispensable institutions, not
The Indenture
25
only by way of ministering to the comfort of the
sick but in increasing the efficiency of mankind and
prolonging human life. The advance in the science
of medicine growing out of discoveries, such as in
the field of bacteriology, chemistry and physics,
and growing out of inventions such as the X-ray
apparatus, make hospital facilities essential for ob-
taining the best results in the practice of medicine
and surgery. So worthy do I deem the cause and so
great do I deem the need that I very much hope
that the people will see to it that adequate and con-
venient hospitals are assured in their respective
communities, with especial reference to those who
are unable to defray such expenses of their own.
I have included orphans in an effort to help those
who are most unable to help themselves, a worthy
cause, productive of truly beneficial results in
which all good citizens should have an abiding in-
terest. While in my opinion nothing can take the
place of a home and its influences, every effort
should be made to safeguard and develop these
wards of society.
And, lastly, I have made provision for what I
consider a very fertile and much neglected field for
useful help in religious life, namely, assisting by
way of support and maintenance in those cases
where the head of the family through devoting his
26
The Duke Endowment
life to the religious service of his fellow men has
been unable to accumulate for his declining years
and for his widow and children, and assisting in the
building and maintenance of churches in rural dis-
tricts where the people are not able to do this prop-
erly for themselves, believing that such a pension
system is a just call which will secure a better grade
of service and that the men and women of these
rural districts will amply respond to such assistance
to them, not to mention our own Christian duty re-
gardless of such results. Indeed, my observation
and the broad expanse of our territory make me be-
lieve it is to these rural districts that we are to look
in large measure for the bone and sinew of our
country.
From the foregoing it will be seen that I have
endeavored to make provision in some measure for
the needs of mankind along physical, mental and
spiritual lines, largely confining the benefactions
to those sections served by these water power devel-
opments. I might have extended this aid to other
charitable objects and to other sections, but my
opinion is that so doing probably would be pro-
ductive of less good by reason of attempting too
much. I therefore urge the trustees to seek to ad-
minister well the trust hereby committed to them
within the limits set, and to this end that at least at
The Indenture
27
one meeting each year this Indenture be read to
the assembled trustees.
Eighth.
This Indenture is executed by a resident of the
State of New Jersey in said State, is intended to be
made, administered and given effect under and in
accordance with the present existing laws and
statutes of said State, notwithstanding it may be
administered and the beneficiaries hereof may be
located in whole or in part in other states, and the
validity and construction thereof shall be deter-
mined and governed in all respects by such laws
and statutes.
It being the purpose and intention of this Inden-
ture that no part of the corpus or income of the
trust estate hereby created shall ever for any cause
revert to the party of the first part, or to his heirs,
personal representatives or assigns, it is hereby de-
clared that: (a) Each object and purpose of this
trust shall be deemed and treated as separate and
distinct from each and every other object and pur-
pose thereof to the end that no provision of this
trust shall be deemed or declared illegal, invalid
or unenforceable by reason of any other provision
or provisions of this trust being adjudged or de-
28
The Duke Endowment
dared illegal, invalid or unenforceable; and that
in the event of any one or more of the provisions
of this trust being declared or adjudged illegal, in-
valid or unenforceable that each and every other
provision of this trust shall take effect as if the pro-
vision or provisions so declared or adjudged to be
illegal, invalid or unenforceable had never been
contained in this Indenture; and any and all prop-
erties and funds ■which ■would have been utilized
under and pursuant to any provision so declared or
adjudged illegal, invalid or unenforceable shall be
utilized under and in accordance with the other
provisions of this Indenture which shall not be de-
clared or adjudged illegal, invalid or unenforce-
able; and (b) in the event any beneficiary for
which provision is herein made shall cease to exist
for any cause whatever, then so much of the funds
and properties of this trust as otherwise would be
utilized for the same shall be thereafter utilized
for the remaining objects and purposes of this trust.
In Witness Whereof, the said James B.
Duke, at his residence at Duke Farms in the State
of New Jersey, has subscribed his name and affixed
his seal to this Indenture, consisting with this page
and the preceding and following pages of twenty-
one pages, each page of which, except the follow-
The Indenture
29
ing page, he has identified by signing his name on
the margin thereof, all on the day and year first
above written.
James B. Duke (L.S.)
Witnesses :
Clarence E. Case
Forrest Hyde
Clarence E. Mares
State of New J ersey ) .
County of Somerset
Be it remembered, that on this 1 1th day of De-
cember, 1924, before me, a Notary Public of New
Jersey, personally appeared JAMES B. Duke, who,
I am satisfied, is the grantor named in the within
Indenture and Deed of Trust dated December
1 1th, 1924, and I having first made known to him
the contents thereof, he did acknowledge that he
signed, sealed and delivered the same as his vol-
untary act and deed, for the uses and purposes
therein expressed.
Wm. R. Sutphen,
Notary Public of N. J.
30
The Duke Endowment
We, the undersigned, being the persons des-
ignated in the within and foregoing Indenture as
the trustees of the trust thereby created, do hereby
accept said trust and undertake to act as trustees of
the same as in said Indenture set forth.
Nanaline H. Duke
George G. Allen
William R. Perkins
William B. Bell
Anthony J. Drexel Biddle, Jr.
Walter C. Parker
Alex. H. Sands, Jr.
WiLLAM S. Lee
Charles I. Burkholder
Norman A. Cocke
Edward C. Marshall
Bennette E. Geer
THE
DORIS DUKE TRUST
/ /
By indenture dated December 11, 1924, and
executed at Duke Farms in Somerset County, New
Jersey, before William R. Sutphen, a Notary Pub-
lic of New Jersey, Mr. James B. Duke created a
trust which he denominated The Doris Duke Trust
and which is to continue so long as any one or more
of the following persons, namely,
Doris Duke, daughter, Mary Duke Biddle,
Mary Duke Biddle II, Anthony J. Drexel
Biddle III, Angier Buchanan Duke, Jr.,
Anthony Newton Duke, Mary Lyon Stagg,
Elizabeth Stagg Hackney, Mary Washing-
ton Nicholson, John Mallory Hackney, Jr.,
James Stagg Hackney, Sterling Johnston
Nicholson, Jr., Mary Washington Nicholson
II, Clara Elizabeth Lyon McClamroch,
George Leonidas Lyon, Jr., Mary Duke Lyon,
E. Buchanan Lyon, Marion Noell Lyon,
Laura Elizabeth Lyon, Washington Duke
Lyon, Baxter Laurence Duke, Mabel Duke
31
32
The Duke Endowment
Goodall, Pearl Duke Bachmann, Mabel
Duke Goodall II, and Martha Dulaney Bach-
mann,
who was living when the indenture was executed
shall remain alive and for the period of twenty-one
years immediately succeeding the death of the last
survivor of them, unless sooner terminated by its
other terms.
Into this trust Mr. Duke placed $35,000 in cash
and 2000 shares of Duke Power Company, a New
Jersey corporation, and the will of Mr, Duke, here-
inafter mentioned, by Item V bequeathed to this
trust “All the shares of stock which I may own at
my death of the Duke Power Company, a New Jer-
sey corporation, and/or of any corporation fifty-
one per cent of the voting share capital of which
is owned by the said Duke Power Company at that
time, if my said daughter Doris Duke or a lineal
descendant of my said daughter be living at the
time of my death; * * * The shares of stock to
which said trust may become entitled by virtue of
this item of my will shall be added to and become
a part of the corpus of said trust.”
As Doris Duke was living when her father died
this provision of the will took effect. By it the trust
got
The Doris Duke Trust
33
125,904 shares of the capital stock of Duke
Power Company
2 shares of the common stock of South-
ern Power Company
2 shares of the common stock of Great
Falls Power Company
With respect to the payment and distribution of
the principal and income of the trust the indenture
provides :
“Fourth.
The trustees hereunder each year shall pay, ap-
ply and distribute two-thirds of the net amount of
the incomes, revenues and profits received from the
funds and properties in this trust during such year
up to and until the time when final payment and
distribution is directed to be made of the one-third
of the funds and properties of this trust under the
terms of the “Fifth” division of this Indenture and
the whole of the net amount of the incomes, rev-
enues and profits, if any, received from the funds
and properties in this trust during such year from
and after such time ( 1 ) to the said Doris Duke so
long as she shall live, and (2) after the death of
said Doris Duke per capita, in equal portions, to
and among the lineal descendant or descendants of
the said Doris Duke who may be living at the time
34
The Duke Endowment
of the making by the trustees of each particular
payment and distribution thereof under this divi-
sion of this Indenture so long as this trust shall con-
tinue and a lineal descendant of said Doris Duke
shall be living, but in no event longer than the last
day of the said period of twenty-one years men-
tioned and described in the “First” division of this
Indenture. Upon the said last day of said period of
twenty-one years mentioned and described in the
“First” division of this Indenture, or upon it so
happening that at any time theretofore neither said
Doris Duke nor any lineal descendant of said Doris
Duke shall be living, whichever of said contingen-
cies shall first happen, this trust shall cease and
terminate as to, and the trustees shall thereupon
forthwith pay and distribute, two-thirds in value
at that time of all the funds and properties then
held in this trust in the event that the final payment
and distribution of the one-third of the funds and
properties of this trust shall not have been made
prior to said time under the “Fifth” division of
this Indenture, or the whole of the funds and prop-
erties at said time held in this trust in the event that
final payment and distribution prior to said time
shall have been made of the one-third of the funds
and properties of this trust under the terms of the
“Fifth” division of this Indenture (1) per capita,
The Doris Duke Trust
35
in equal portions, to and among the lineal descend-
ant or descendants of the said Doris Duke then liv-
ing, if any such there shall be; or (2), if there be
no such lineal descendant then living, then into the
trust which has been created and established by the
party of the first part by Indenture bearing even
date herewith wherein the trust thereby created is
denominated The Duke Endowment, provided
that no payment or distribution under this division
of this Indenture shall be made of any accumula-
tion of incomes, revenues and profits which may
have been made by virtue of the “Sixth” division
of this Indenture and/or of any incomes, revenues
and profits of any such accumulation.
“Fifth.
The trustees hereunder each year shall pay, apply
and distribute one-third of the net amount of the
incomes, revenues and profits received from the
funds and properties in this trust during such year
up to and until the time when final payment and
distribution is directed to be made of the two-
thirds of the funds and properties of this trust
under the terms of the “Fourth” division of this
Indenture, and the whole of the net amount of the
incomes, revenues and profits, if any, received from
the funds and properties in this trust during such
36 The Duke Endowment
year from and after such time, per capita, in equal
portions, to and among each of the following per-
sons, namely ; said Mary Duke Biddle, the wife of
Anthony J. Drexel Biddle, Jr.; said Mary Duke
Biddle and Anthony J. Drexel Biddle III, the
children of said Mary Duke Biddle; said Angier
Buchanan Duke, Jr. and Anthony Newton
Duke, children of Angier Buchanan Duke, de-
ceased; said Mary Lyon Stagg, the widow of
James E. Stagg; said Elizabeth Stagg Hack-
ney, the wife of John Mallory Hackney and Mary
Washington Nicholson, the wife of Sterling
Johnston Nicholson, children of the said Mary
Lyon Stagg; and John Mallory Hackney, Jr.
and James Stagg Hackney, children of the said
Elizabeth Stagg Hackney; said STERLING John-
ston Nicholson, Jr. and Mary Washington
Nicholson, children of the said Mary Washing-
ton Nicholson; said Clara Elizabeth Lyon Mc-
Clamroch, the wife of Roland Prince McClam-
roch, George Leonidas Lyon, Jr. and Mary
Duke Lyon, children of George Leonidas Lyon,
deceased; said E. BUCHANAN Lyon, Marion
Noell Lyon, Laura Elizabeth Lyon and
Washington Duke Lyon, children of E. Bu-
chanan Lyon, deceased; said Baxter Laurence
Duke, Mabel Duke Goodall, the wife of H. R.
The Doris Duke Trust
37
Goodall, and Pearl Duke Bachmann, the wife
of Nathan L. Bachmann, children of Brodie Leon-
idas Duke, deceased ; said Mabel Duke Goodall,
the child of the said Mabel Duke Goodall; and
said Martha Dulaney Bachmann, the child of
said Pearl Duke Bachmann, and each and every
of the lineal descendants of each and every of said
persons, which persons and/or descendants may be
living at the time of the making by the trustees of
each particular payment and distribution thereof
under this division of this Indenture so long as this
trust shall continue and any one of said persons or
a lineal descendant of any one of said persons shall
be living, but in no event longer than the last day
of the said period of twenty-one years mentioned
and described in the “First” division of this In-
denture. Upon the said last day of said period of
twenty-one years mentioned and described in the
“First” division of this Indenture, or upon it so
happening that at any time theretofore neither any
one of said persons nor any lineal descendant of any
one of said persons shall be living, whichever of
said contingencies shall first happen, this trust shall
cease and terminate as to, and the trustees shall
thereupon forthwith pay and distribute, one-third
in value at that time of all the funds and properties
then held in this trust in the event that the final pay-
38 The Duke Endowment
ment and distribution of the two-thirds of the funds
and properties of this trust shall not have been
made prior to said time under the “FOURTH” divi-
sion of this Indenture or the whole of the funds and
properties at said time held in this trust in the event
that final payment and distribution prior to said
time shall have been made of the two-thirds of the
funds and properties of this trust under the terms
of the “Fourth” division of this Indenture (1)
per capita, in equal portions, to and among the
lineal descendant or descendants then living of
each and every of said persons, if any such there
shall be, or (2) if there be no such lineal descend-
ant then living, then into the trust which has been
created and established by the party of the first part
by Indenture bearing even date herewith wherein
the trust thereby created is denominated The Duke
Endowment, provided that no payment or dis-
tribution under this division of this Indenture shall
be made of any accumulation of incomes, revenues
and profits which may have been made by virtue
of the “Sixth” division of this Indenture and/or
of any incomes, revenues and profits of any such
accumulation.
“Sixth,
The trustees hereunder at any time and from
time to time with respect to any beneficiary here-
The Doris Duke Trust 39
under so long as such beneficiary shall be under
twenty-one years of age (but in no event subsequent
to the last day of the period of twenty-one years
mentioned and described in the “First” division
of this Indenture), in the uncontrolled discretion
of said trustees, may withhold and accumulate for
such beneficiary the whole or any part of the in-
comes, revenues and profits of this trust which, ex-
cept for such withholding and accumulation, would
be paid and distributed to such beneficiary, but
with respect to said Doris Duke and her lineal de-
scendants the party of the first part requests
especially, but does not require, that said trustees
do so withhold and accumulate hereunder beyond
such amounts as the trustees hereof may think
should be paid to the said Doris Duke and/or to
her lineal descendants in order to provide liberally
for their current needs. Each such accumulation, as
well as the incomes, revenues and profits thereof,
shall be separately kept and handled by said trus-
tees as respects accounting, investment of funds,
and otherwise, and the whole of such accumula-
tions, incomes, revenues and profits shall be fully
and finally paid, applied and distributed by said
trustees as follows, namely : ( 1 ) to the beneficiary
from whom it was so withheld upon such benefici-
ary attaining the age of twenty-one years, or upon
40
The Duke Endowment
the said last day of saia period of twenty-one years
mentioned and described in the “First” division of
this Indenture, whichever of said events shall first
occur, if such beneficiary shall be then living;
or (2) if such beneficiary shall not be then living,
then upon the death of such beneficiary (a) in all
respects in accordance with the laws and statutes of
the State of New Jersey at the time of the death of
such beneficiary to and among those persons who by
said laws and statutes would inherit real estate then
owned by such beneficiary and located in said State,
had such beneficiary died intestate and a resident of
said State, or (b), if there shall not be living at
the time of the death of such beneficiary any person
to whom payment and distribution may be made
pursuant to subdivision (a) hereof, then into the
trust which has been created and established by the
party of the first part by Indenture bearing even
date herewith wherein the trust thereby created is
denominated The Duke Endowment; provided
that the trustees hereunder, in their uncontrolled
discretion, at any time and from time to time before
the happening of any of said events, may pay
and apply the whole or any part of any such
accumulation, as well as of the incomes, rev-
enues and profits thereof, to and for the support,
education and maintenance of the beneficiary from
The Doris Duke Trust
41
whom the same may have been withheld, in which
event said full and final payment and distribution
under the foregoing provision of this division of
this Indenture shall be only of what may remain
thereof at the time of the making of such full and
final payment and distribution. This trust shall
cease and terminate as respects each of said ac-
cumulations as well as the incomes, revenues and
profits thereof, ( 1 ) as and when such payment and
distribution thereof shall be made under the terms
of this division, or (2) , upon the last day of the said
period of twenty-one years mentioned and de-
scribed in the “First” division of this Indenture,
whichever of said events shall first occur.
THE WILL OF JAMES B. DUKE
1 f
The will of Mr. Duke is dated December 11th,
1924, and the codicil thereto October 1st, 1925.
Both were probated in common form before the
Surrogate of Somerset County, New Jersey, Octo-
ber 23rd, 1925.
By Item VIII there is bequeathed to
“the trust established by me by Indenture dated
December 11, 1924, wherein said trust is denomi-
nated The Duke Endowment, the sum of Ten Mil-
lion Dollars, to be added to and become a part of
the corpus of said trust estate and to be held, used,
managed, administered and disposed of, as well as
the incomes, revenues and profits arising therefrom
and accruing thereto, by the trustees of said trust
under and subject to all the terms of said trust in-
denture, except that: (a) said trustees shall use and
expend as soon as they reasonably can after the re-
ceipt of said sum not exceeding Four Million Dol-
lars thereof in erecting and equipping, at the Duke
University mentioned and described in said trust,
buildings suitable for a Medical School, Hospital
and Nurses Home under the supervision of said
43
44
The Duke Endowment
trustees and in all respects as they may determine
concerning the same, and the acquisition of such
lands, if any, as may be needed for such purpose,
said lands, buildings and equipment to be conveyed
to and thereafter belong to said Duke University
and operated by it; and (b) all the incomes, rev-
enues and profits arising and accruing from the said
Ten Million Dollars shall be utilized, paid, ap-
plied and distributed each year by said trustees
upon, subject to and in accordance with all the
terms of said Indenture with respect to the pay-
ment and distribution of a percentage of the in-
comes, revenues and profits of said trust to and for
said Duke University.”
By Item X a trust is created with the same trus-
tees, and practically the same powers, as those of
The Doris Duke Trust. Into this trust is placed
“one-third in value of said residuary estate and, in
addition thereto, such a portion of said residuary
estate as will in the judgment of my executors cer-
tainly produce a net annual income of One Hun-
dred Thousand Dollars from said portion.”
As respects said “portion” it is provided :
“The trustees of this trust each year shall pay,
apply and distribute the net amount of the in-
The Will of James B. Duke 45
comes, revenues and profits arising and accruing
from the said portion of said residuary estate to my
said wife so long as she shall live, and upon the
death of my said wife this trust shall cease and
terminate as to said portion and any undistributed
incomes, revenues and profits thereof, and said por-
tion and all undistributed incomes, revenues and
profits thereof, shall be paid, applied and distrib-
uted by said trustee into the trust created and estab-
lished by me by Indenture dated December 11th,
1924, wherein said trust is denominated The Duke
Endowment.”
As respects said “one-third in value” it is pro-
vided :
“The trustees of this trust each year shall pay and
distribute the net amount of the incomes, revenues
and profits arising and accruing from said one-
third in value of said residuary estate, or so much
thereof as may not then have been distributed
under the terms of this trust, to my said daughter
so long as she may live and after her death per
capita, in equal portions, to and among the lineal
descendants of my said daughter who may be living
at the time of the making by the trustees of each
particular payment and distribution thereof, so
long as this trust shall continue after the death of
The Duke Endowment
46
my said daughter and a lineal descendant of my
said daughter shall be living, but in no event sub-
sequent to the last day of the said twenty-one year
period herein mentioned and described for the du-
ration of this trust.”
And said trustees shall pay and distribute the
said one-third in value of said residuary estate as
follows, namely:
“(a) To my said daughter upon her attaining
the age of twenty-one years one-third in value of
all the funds and properties then constituting the
same provided my said daughter shall attain such
age; to my said daughter upon her attaining the
age of twenty-five years one-half in value of all the
funds and properties then constituting the undis-
tributed residue of the same provided my said
daughter shall attain such age; and to my said
daughter upon her attaining the age of thirty years
the whole of the funds and properties then consti-
tuting the undistributed residue of the same, as
well as any incomes, revenues and profits thereof
which may not have been then distributed, pro-
vided my said daughter shall attain such age. If at
the time of my death my said daughter shall have
attained any one or more of the above mentioned
ages she shall thereupon become entitled to receive
The IV ill of yames B. Duke ^\rj
and said trustees, as soon as they reasonably can
thereafter, shall pay, transfer, assign and deliver to
her the funds and properties, or the value thereof,
which they would have paid, transferred, assigned
and delivered to her under the provisions of this
paragraph of this trust had she attained such age or
ages subsequent to my death. This trust shall cease
and terminate as to each and every payment and
distribution made under this provision of this trust
as and when such payment and distribution is
made;
“(b) Upon the last day of the said period of
twenty-one years herein mentioned for the duration
of this trust, or upon it so happening that at any
time theretofore neither my said daughter nor any
lineal descendant of my said daughter shall be liv-
ing, whichever of said contingencies shall first hap-
pen, this trust shall cease and terminate as to, and
the trustees shall pay, apply and distribute, the said
one-third in value of the said residuary estate, as
well as all the incomes, revenues and profits there-
of, to the extent that the same may not have there-
tofore been distributed, per capita, in equal por-
tions, to and among the lineal descendants of my
said daughter then living if there shall be any such
lineal descendant then living, and if there be no
The Duke Endowment
48
such lineal descendant then living, then into the
trust created and established by me by Indenture
dated December 11, 1924, wherein said trust is
denominated The Duke Endowment.”
“As respects each beneficiary hereunder, so long
as such beneficiary shall be under twenty-one years
of age (but in no event subsequent to the last day of
said twenty-one year period mentioned for the du-
ration of this trust) the trustees are requested, but
not required, to withhold and accumulate for such
beneficiary the whole or any part of the incomes,
revenues and profits of this trust which, except for
such withholding and accumulation, would be paid
and distributed to such beneficiary, beyond such
amount as the trustees hereof may think should be
paid to any one or more of such beneficiaries in
order to provide liberally for the current needs of
such beneficiary. Each such accumulation, as well
as the incomes, revenues and profits thereof, shall
be separately kept and handled by said trustees as
respects accounting, investment of funds, and
otherwise, and the whole of such accumulations,
incomes, revenues and profits shall be fully and fi-
nally paid, applied and distributed by said trustees
as follows, namely: (1) to the beneficiary from
whom it was so withheld upon such beneficiary
49
The Will of fames B. Duke
attaining the age of twenty-one years, or upon the
said last day of the said period of twenty-one years
mentioned and described for the duration of this
trust, whichever of said events shall first occur, if
such beneficiary shall be then living; or (2), if
such beneficiary shall not be then living, then upon
the death of such beneficiary (a) in all respects in
accordance with the laws and statutes of the State
of New Jersey at the time of the death of such
beneficiary to and among those persons who by said
laws and statutes would inherit real estate then
owned by such beneficiary and located in said State,
had such beneficiary died intestate and a resident
of said State, or (b), if there shall not be living at
the time of the death of such beneficiary any per-
son to whom payment and distribution may be
made pursuant to subdivision (a) hereof, then into
the trust which has been created and established
by me by Indenture dated December 11th, 1924,
wherein said trust is denominated The Duke En-
dowment; provided that the trustees hereunder, in
their uncontrolled discretion, at any time and from
time to time before the happening of any of said
events, may pay and apply the whole or any part of
any such accumulation, as well as of the incomes,
revenues and profits, thereof, to and for the sup-
port, education and maintenance of the beneficiary
50
The Duke Endowment
from whom the same may have been withheld, in
which event said full and final payment and dis-
tribution under the foregoing terms of this provi-
sion of my will shall be only of what may remain
thereof at any time of the making of such full and
final payment and distribution.”
And Item XI, as changed by the codicil, pro-
vides :
“The residue of said residuary estate not disposed
of by Item X hereof I give, devise and bequeath,
and I direct my executors to pay and distribute,
into the trust established by me by Indenture
dated December 11th, 1924, wherein said trust
is denominated The Duke Endowment, to be
added to and become a part of the corpus of said
trust and to be held, used, managed, administered
and disposed of, as well as the incomes, revenues,
and profits arising therefrom and accruing thereto,
by the trustees of said trust under and subject to all
the terms of said trust indenture, except that the
trustees of said trust shall use and expend Seven
Million Dollars ($7,000,000) of the principal
thereof in building and equipping Duke Univer-
sity and acquiring and improving property neces-
sary for that purpose, according to such plans as
may have been or may hereafter be adopted by
51
The Will of James B. Duke
them for such purpose, and except further that the
incomes, revenues and profits arising from and ac-
cruing to said residue of said residuary estate shall
be utilized, paid, applied and distributed each year
by said trustees as to ninety per cent thereof upon,
subject to and in accordance with all the terms of
said indenture with respect to the payment and
distribution of a percentage of the incomes, rev-
enues and profits of said trust to and for maintain-
ing and securing hospitals, and as to the remaining
ten per cent thereof upon, subject to and in accord-
ance with all the terms of said indenture with re-
spect to the payment and distribution of a percent-
age of the incomes, revenues and profits of said
trust to and for said Duke University.”
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ADDRESS OF WILLIAM R. PERKINS
Mr. Chairman, and Members and Guests of
The Sphex Club :
I have Very real pleasure in being with you on
this occasion. The privilege of appearing before
such a gathering is an honor most highly esteemed,
I assure you. And then Lynchburg is home. Here
are the familiar scenes of years gone by. Here I re-
ceived the impetus to whatever of achievement I
may lay claim. And here, God willing, still linger
many of the friendly faces that are nearest and
dearest. Of all the beautiful pictures that hang on
memory’s wall, the ones of the old Hill City, they
seem to me best of all.
My subject is The Duke Endowment, its origin,
nature and purposes, which I have been told, and
can well understand, is of interest to you. It is one
of the outstanding philanthropies of all time. It is
of our Southland. It is for our Southland. While
located in the Carolinas where the Dukes were
born and the Duke Power System operates, un-
doubtedly its influence will permeate and its ac-
53
54
The Duke Endowment
tivities will benefit elsewhere, as through the great
educational institution it is constructing at Durham
on your border. And if the income prove more than
sufficient within the Carolinas the trustees, in their
discretion, may use the excess for hospitalization
beyond their confines, giving preference to adjoin-
ing States, in which category, of course, comes
Virginia.
All that exists or happens is the expression of a
personality. Such is the case with business and
pleasure, our good deeds and our bad, our homes
and habits, and even the clothes we wear; for the
apparel oft proclaims the man. This world of ours
is the expression of a great personality. I know that
on this subject some assert insufficient knowledge to
form a belief and others enter an ignorant denial ;
but to me the marvel of creation has always meant
the existence of a Superior Being, and I behold in
the act which is my theme this evening a product
of this Superior Being working through the hearts
and consciences of mankind.
The Duke Endowment was an expression of the
personality of James Buchanan Duke, though it
presented a side of him which then seemed little
known to the public. I well recall the surprise
voiced by the Press in its announcement. As a mat-
ter of fact, this was one of the highest compliments
Address of William R. Perkins 55
ever paid the quiet, unpretentious way in which
Mr. Duke carried forward his plans. Yet I confess
to quite a feeling of resentment at the time because
I knew this lack of understanding had its source
in the persistent ways in which he had been de-
picted as a malefactor of great wealth by those who
sought to secure their own preferment by his de-
traction.
There should have been no surprise. Mr. Duke
came of a family of benefactors. His father, Wash-
ington Duke, and his brother, Benjamin N. Duke,
were both notable in this respect. The aggregate of
their donations was imposing. Mr. Duke himself
had been generous in his gifts and his intimate
friends were well aware that he contemplated, to
use their oft repeated phrase, “big things for God
and humanity”. Mr. Duke’s mind was busy with
the subject as far back as when I became his per-
sonal counsel and for over ten years there lay in the
drawer of my desk a draft of the document which
eventually embodied The Duke Endowment.
You wonder at this elapse of time. The answer
is the unique basis of the Endowment, which dis-
tinguishes it radically from other large philan-
thropies. The Press notice stated simply that Mr.
Duke had given $40,000,000 to charity. The Inden-
ture described the donation as so-many shares of
The Duke Endowment
56
stock. What Mr. Duke really contributed in major
part was control and operation of a business.
Many years ago, while in the midst of his to-
bacco merchandising, Mr. Duke had his attention
called to a hydro-electric development on the Ca-
tawba River in South Carolina. An investigation
was followed by an investment. And thus there be-
gan what, for him, was the real business fascination
of his life, culminating in the acquisition and de-
velopment of the great Saguenay River in the Prov-
ince of Quebec, Canada and giving rise, contrary
to popular belief, to much the larger portion of his
fortune.
Mr. Duke was a builder. He loved to create and
establish. This quality was preeminent in his make-
up and found full scope for its exercise in harness-
ing the great natural resource — ^water power — and
turning it to the service of mankind. He threw him-
self wholeheartedly into this field of endeavor. He
erected dams and power plants and transmission
lines. By participation in financing and otherwise,
he encouraged the location of industries on these
lines. He even projected an electric railway, parts
of which he constructed and would have completed
the whole but for the World War and its after-
math. The result was that the portions of North and
South Carolina, in which these activities centered.
Address of William R. Perkins 57
became a synonym of progress and prosperity. The
Duke Power System took its place in the front rank
of public utilities, with plants producing millions
of kilowatt hours of electrical energy which it dis-
tributed over miles of transmission lines to thou-
sands of customers, including many towns and
cities. And there was borne in upon Mr. Duke the
great thought which lies at the very foundation of
his Endowment — ^why not let his philanthropy take
the form of giving this power system to the com-
munities it served in a manner whereby through it
they could finance their own charities by simply
doing business in the usual and ordinary way.
I shall never forget the delight with which Mr.
Duke in the utmost confidence unfolded the idea to
me. He felt it met the test of real assistance. It
helped others to help themselves. And he illus-
trated by saying it was easy enough to give a fellow
food or shelter or raiment or money, but the best
of all gifts was a job. He asked me to embody the
plan in a draft of indenture, which I did, and he
went about its performance with the enthusiasm
of a boy, refusing to accept from tbe Companies
even the expenses of his services, much less any
compensation, though much stock was in the hands
of the public.
Hence the ten years which I mentioned ; for Mr.
58 The Duke Endowment
Duke was unwilling to turn over the properties un-
til he regarded them as complete for the purpose.
And what a ten years! There was the war, with its
stress and havoc and deluge of blood and tears,
when all our resources and energies were bent to
the one essential, victory. During the war there
came the greatest flood ever known in the Caro-
linas. The Catawba River, where most of the Duke
plants are, rose some fifteen feet higher than any
previous record and washed away every bridge
from the mountains to the sea. So dams had to be
carefully reinforced and a large impounding res-
ervoir built high up on the watershed to provide
amply against such future occurrences. Again, the
war left wages and other costs so high that the rates
obtaining for electric current were found mate-
rially inadequate. So proceedings had to be insti-
tuted which, after a bitter fight, secured a compa-
rable increase. And it was only when all these
things had been accomplished that Mr. Duke re-
garded the situation ripe for dedicating the prop-
erties to his magnanimous conception.
Of course, meanwhile the conception had grown
immensely in amount and scope. Such was always
the case with what Mr. Duke undertook. The
$40,000,000 value put into the Endowment at its
inauguration embraced largely more than stock in
59
Address oj William R. Perkins
the Duke Power System. One-fifth of each year’s
net income he required to be accumulated until
thereby another $40,000,000 was added to the prin-
cipal of the Endowment. And his Will probably
added as much more. For it bequeathed the En-
dowment $10,000,000 by Item VIII and by Item
XI, as amended by the codicil, two-thirds of his
residuary estate, subject only to an annuity to his
widow.
But through it all runs the basic thought on
which the philanthropy is bottomed and the In-
denture expressly and broadly so states. Thus in his
declarations for the guidance of the trustees Mr.
Duke says :
“For many years I have been engaged in the
development of water powers in certain sec-
tions of the States of North Carolina and
South Carolina. In my study of this subject I
have observed how such utilization of a na-
tural resource, which otherwise would run
in waste to the sea and not remain and increase
as a forest, both gives impetus to industrial
life and provides a safe and enduring invest-
ment for capital. My ambition is that the rev-
enues of such developments shall administer
to the social welfare, as the operation of such
6o
The Duke Endowment
developments is administering to the economic
welfare, of the communities which they
serve.”
And with these views in mind he not only recom-
mended the securities of the Duke Power System
as “the prime investment for the funds of this
trust”, but required such funds to be invested by
loans to, or acquiring the securities of, the Duke
Power System “if and to the extent that such a loan
or such securities are available upon terms and
conditions satisfactory to said trustees”; otherwise
investments could be only in first-class Federal,
State or Municipal Bonds. He not only advised the
trustees not to “change any such investment except
in response to the most urgent and extraordinary
necessity”, but he stipulated that such securities
could not be disposed of, in whole or part, “except
upon and by the affirmative vote of the total auth-
orized number of trustees at a meeting called for
the purpose, the minutes of which shall state the
reasons for and the terms of such sale”. And he re-
quested the trustees “to see to it that at all times
these Companies be managed and operated by the
men best qualified for such a service”.
I feel justified, therefore, in stressing this strik-
ing characteristic of the Endowment which I be-
Address of William R. Perkins 6i
lieve to be unique. I have supreme faith in its effi-
cacy because I have just that faith in the common
sense and loving kindness of the people on whose
shoulders has fallen this mantle of beneficence.
When they understand the conception they will ap-
preciate and fulfill it. And if they do not, the trus-
tees by unanimous action have a way out so that
the Endowment will not thereby be jeopardized.
Another feature of the Endowment worth dwell-
ing upon is its duration. This subject was brought
again to the fore in an article by Mr. Julius Rosen-
wald which appeared in the Atlantic Monthly for
May, 1929 and has since been distributed in pam-
phlet form. Mr. Rosenwald makes vehement op-
position to perpetual endowments and, suiting his
action to his word, has required that every dollar
of his donations, both principal and income, be ex-
pended within twenty-five years of his death.
I have read the article with much interest. Its
controlling thought is that perpetual endowments
unduly tie up capital and outlive their usefulness.
And, within proper limits, there is merit in the
view. For, undoubtedly, as Bobby Burns well said,
“the best laid schemes o’ mice and men gang aft
agley”. But I do not believe the subject admits of
the broad generalizations and strictures which Mr.
Rosenwald indulges nor that his illustrations of
62
The Duke Endowment
outlived usefulness are the kind upon which to
base a universal rule of conduct. Rather do I think
the determinating factors to be the nature of the
object desired and its attendant circumstances, as
objects differ greatly in their endurance and re-
quirements.
For instance, I cannot see any parallel to the
great causes of health and education in the cases
cited by Mr. Rosenwald of funds established for
“worthy and distressed travelers and emigrants
passing through St. Louis to settle for a home in
the West”; to furnish “a baked potato at each meal
for each young woman at Bryn Mawr”; to pro-
vide for Boston “fortifications, bridges, acqueducts,
public buildings, baths, pavements or whatever
may make living in the town more convenient for
its people and render it more agreeable to
strangers” ; to pipe water from Wissihicken Creek
for the City of Philadelphia or to make Snug Har-
bor in Brooklyn “a haven for superannuated
sailors”. Those examples are the extremes, the
freaks, of history, though some were by men both
eminent and wise. One has but to consider the prob-
able fate of Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Johns Hop-
kins, Leland Stanford, had each of their benefac-
tors been of Mr. Rosenwald’s mind.
The same thing is true of Mr. Rosenwald’s un-
Address of William R. Perkins 63
gracious comment on Mr. Hershey’s noble provi-
sion for orphans, that “orphan asylums began to
disappear about the time the old-fashioned wall
telephone went out”. I suspect Mr. Hershey was
much better informed concerning orphanages th^n
Mr. Rosenwald. For ten per cent of the net income
of The Duke Endowment is given to institutions in
the Carolinas which, as a charity, take care of white
and colored whole or half orphans. And so far we
have found no diminution in such institutions or
their need for funds.
Besides, Mr. Rosenwald’s view runs counter to
the great incentives of life and athwart the prevail-
ing traits of humanity. Men prefer to write in brass,
not water, to leave their footprints in rock rather
than upon the shifting sand. They are unwilling,
unless necessity compels, to trust their cherished
ambitions to something so precarious as posthu-
mous charity, not that coming generations will
prove uncharitable, but that they may have other
plans of their own.
Mr. Duke could not envisage the fruition of the
University he was founding or the Hospitalization
he was inaugurating except through substantial
permanence in his provision for them. He there-
fore expressly provided that the Endowment
should endure forever under the management of a
64 The Duke Endowment
self-perpetuating board of fifteen trustees who
could expend none of the principal except the $17,-
000,000 for erecting and equipping Duke Univer-
sity. At the same time he gave the trustees such
ample discretion about income as safely to accom-
modate his philanthropy to the changes time may
work. If any beneficiary ceases to exist the income
allotted it may be used for any other object of the
Endowment. As respects any year and any object
except Duke University the trustees may withhold
the income allotted and use it either for “any such
like charitable religious or educational purpose”
within the Carolinas or for “any such like chari-
table hospital purpose which shall be selected
therefor by the affirmative vote of three-fourths of
the then trustees” at a meeting called for the
purpose; and without such vote the trustees may
use in any State the income allotted to Hospitaliza-
tion, in excess of that needed in the Carolinas,
giving preference to those States adjoining the
Carolinas. Even as to Duke University if, in the
judgment of the trustees, it “incur expense or
liability beyond provision already in sight to meet
same” or “be not operated in a manner calculated
to achieve the results intended” they may withhold
the whole or any part of the income allotted that
institution and use it for any other object of the
trust.
Address of William R. Perkins 65
You thus see that the trustees have the widest
discretion for use of income within the Carolinas
and outside those States may use the whole income
of the Endowment to extend aid to hospitalization,
according to Mr. Duke’s plan, unto the four
corners of the earth.
The objects of the Endowment may be con-
veniently classified as religion, hospitalization and
education, of which the provision for orphans has
already been mentioned.
To appreciate the provisions for religion one
must realize that Mr. Duke was a Methodist of the
rural district type and such had been his father and
his grandfather before him. And a first-rate type
it was and is. The Circuit Rider had entered deep
into the warp and woof of their lives, as into the
lives of many others. Mr. Duke often remarked :
“My old daddy always said that if he amounted
to anything in life it was due to the Methodist
circuit riders”, to which he invariably added: “If
I amount to anything in this world I owe it to my
daddy and the Methodist Church.” And may I add
that I do not believe any son ever cared more for
a father ? As the years sped it ripened into a venera-
tion beautiful to contemplate, of which I might
give you numerous incidents. I could but marvel
66
The Duke Endowment
at the man Washington Duke must have been, thus
to have impressed and influenced for good the life
of his great descendant. It made me realize the
possibilities, the responsibilities, of fatherhood as
nothing else and always brought an intense yearn-
ing that my life, each father’s life, might deserve
and receive such a blessing.
You will not be surprised, therefore, to know
that the Endowment’s provisions for religion took
the form of allotting six per cent of the distribu-
table net income to assist in building Methodist
Churches in the sparsely settled rural districts of
North Carolina and four per cent of such net
income to assist in maintaining and operating
Methodist Churches in those districts. In addition,
two per cent of such net income was allotted for the
care and maintenance of needy and deserving su-
perannuated preachers and widows and orphans
of deceased preachers who shall have served in a
Methodist Conference in North Carolina, a pro-
vision which perpetuated a gift Mr. Duke had been
making yearly for some while through Trinity
College by way of supplement to the Conference
fund for the same purpose. Up to July 1, 1929, the
Endowment had paid in round figures $66,250 to
superannuated preachers and their families, $93,-
000 for operating rural churches and $148,000 for
Address of William R. Perkins 6~j
building rural churches, this amount being about
Vs of the total for such building.
Hospitalization appealed strongly to Mr. Duke
because he considered the cause splendid and the
need very great. He therefore provided much more
liberally for it than for any other purpose. The
Indenture allotted to it thirty-two per cent of the
distributable net income arising from its principal
and accretions. Mr. Duke’s Will, in giving two-
thirds of his residuary estate to the Endowment,
specified that ninety per cent of the net income
therefrom should be used for hospitalization under
the terms of the Indenture. And it is the only object
for which the trustees may use net income beyond
the confines of the Carolinas, in the manner and to
the extent I have already indicated.
This aid to hospitalization took two forms, help-
ing people to get needed hospital attention and
helping to secure hospitals adequate to such needs.
To the former Mr. Duke gave precedence be-
cause he regarded it more immediately pressing
and less likely to be met sufficiently. His provision
for it was a direction to the trustees to pay to each
and every hospital in the Carolinas, whether for
white or colored, not operating for private gain,
such sum (not exceeding $1) per free bed per day
for each and every day such bed may have been
68
The Duke Endowment
occupied during the period covered by such pay-
ment free of charge by patients unable to pay as
the amount available for the purpose will pay on a
pro rata basis.
This form of assistance is based on what is al-
most axiomatic, that if you take care of the charity
patients the hospital will take care of itself. It was
adopted only after thorough study and in accord-
ance with the best modern thought. Hospitals must
serve the people. They should not, can not, turn
suffering humanity away. But most of the cases
come from those who are unable to bear the ex-
pense and pay patients may not be charged sufficient
to carry fully this extra burden. It is just here,
where the shoe pinches, that Mr. Duke’s plan
supplements in an amount which an elaborate
analysis of hospital costs and experiences indicated
would be proper, namely, not exceeding $1 per free
bed per day. In reality he has to this extent en-
dowed hospitals in proportion to the charity work
they do. And it constitutes a great forward stride
in enabling hospitals to realize their true mission.
The second form of help in hospitalization con-
sists in securing adequate hospitals by assisting in
the erection of those not operated for private gain.
And to this Mr. Duke has dedicated the surplus of
the funds allotted to hospitalization left after mak-
Address of William R. Perkins 69
ing the free bed payments. While thus subordi-
nated, this second form should not be minimized,
for the two forms of assistance are, in fact, co-
ordinate.
The practice of modern medicine is dependent
upon and therefore centers around the hospital.
This is a well-known fact and the reason is plain.
The great progress in the sciences and surgery, as
well as in mechanics, has made hospital facilities
indispensable in both diagnosis and treatment. But
hospitals, for the most part, are yet located in cities
and large towns. And the result is a vast dispropor-
tionateness between our urban and rural popula-
tions as respects the amount, nature and caliber of
the medical facilities open to them.
Mr. Duke saw and appreciated this inequality
and sought its relief. His conception was a network
of hospitals so located and constructed that they
and their attendant staffs would be adequate and
accessible to all who might need. And as the climax,
the capstone, of this system of hospitals his Will
bequeathed $10,000,000 to The Duke Endowment,
of which $4,000,000 was to be used in building and
equipping at Duke University a Medical School,
Hospital and Nurses’ Home, and the net income of
the whole turned over to Duke University for their
operation.
70
The Duke Endowment
The trustees have earnestly set themselves to the
task of fulfilling this program for hospitalization.
They have been fortunate in securing for direction
of this work the services of Dr. W. S. Rankin, a
splendid, capable man of fine experience whose en-
thusiasm knows no bounds. Real progress is being
made, though co-operation in full measure in
building and equipping hospitals will come slowly
because only education brings a true realization of
this need. To July 1, 1929, in round figures the free
day bed payments have aggregated about $1,500,-
000 and the expenditures and commitments for
building and equipping hospitals about $1,125,000,
exclusive of the Hospital and Medical School at
Duke University. The construction of the latter is
well on the road to completion. They are expected
to be open by September, 1930. Their head will be
Dr. W. C. Davison, formerly Assistant Dean of
Johns Hopkins, another really splendid and cap-
able man. He has been giving his close personal
attention to the construction and assures us that in
location, structure and appointments they will
compare favorably with the best now existing.
The magnitude of this program for hospitaliza-
tion can not be overstated. One is simply over-
whelmed by the contemplation of its sweep
through the years, nay ages, to come. It is not too
Address of William R. Perkins yi
much to say that it will prove a veritable tree of
life whose leaves are for the healing of the nations.
While the Endowment allots five per cent of the
net distributable income to Davidson College, a
Presbyterian institution located at Davidson, N. C.,
a like amount to Furman University, a Baptist in-
stitution located at Greenville, S. C. and four per
cent of such net income to the Johnson C. Smith
University, an institution for colored people lo-
cated at Charlotte, N. C., and these are appreciable
gifts, Mr. Duke’s real provision for education is
Duke University.
In 1838 the Methodists and Quakers joined in
establishing a school in Randolph County, N. C.,
which they appropriately called “Union Institute”.
Later it was incorporated as “Normal College”
and the Governor of the State became chairman
and other State officials became members of the
Board of Trustees. This mingling of state with
school soon ended, and the institution was turned
over to the North Carolina Methodist Conference,
by which it was renamed “Trinity College”.
Mainly through the efforts of Mr. Washington
Duke, in the early nineties Trinity College was
moved to Durham, N. C. in order to secure better
facilities and a larger outlook. To accomplish this
he pledged for buildings $85,000, which he later
72
The Duke Endowment
increased to $180,000. And thereafter he gave for
endowment amounts totalling $300,000. Part of
this latter was on condition that young women
should be given all the privileges granted to young
men as students there, the condition was accepted
and thereby Trinity College became, and Duke
University will be, a co-ordinate school of educa-
tion for young men and young women.
Following in the footsteps of his father, Mr.
James B. Duke, when the Endowment was es-
tablished, had contributed to Trinity College some
$100,000 for buildings, $158,500 for expenses, and
approximately $3,000,000 for endowment, besides
uniting with his brother, Mr. Benjamin N. Duke,
in adding 2714 acres to the old campus and $800,-
000 to endowment. Mr. Benjamin N. Duke, besides
his participation I have mentioned, had contrib-
uted around $100,000 to endowment, some $250,000
for expenses and over $300,000 for building pur-
poses. And other members of the Duke family had
made further contributions, notably Mr. Angier
B. Duke, who gave $30,000 for expenses, joined
with his sister, Mrs. Mary Duke Biddle, in con-
tributing $25,000 to the erection of the Alumni
Memorial Gymnasium and by his will bequeathed
$250,000 to endowment.
You thus realize that at the time of the creation
Address of William R. Perkins 73
of the Endowment Duke generosity had played a
most prominent part in locating, building and
maintaining Trinity College at Durham and aug-
menting its endowment funds. And you see how
entirely natural and fitting it was that Mr. Duke
should think in terms of Trinity College in plan-
ning his philanthropy for education. Accordingly,
he provided that by taking the name “Duke Uni-
versity”, Trinity College might be the Duke Uni-
versity contemplated by the Endowment so long
as it retained that name and was not operated for
private gain, subject, however, to discretionary
power in the Endowment trustees to withhold the
whole or any part of the income allotted the Uni-
versity should it incur expense or liability beyond
provision in sight to take care of same or, in their
judgment, be not “operated in a manner calculated
to achieve the results intended” for education
through Duke University under the Endowment.
In some quarters it has been suggested that in this
power to withhold might lie seeds of future con-
flict and embarrassment. But no such apprehension
exists among those who bear the responsibility.
Rather do they think it an element of strength, pre-
venting the ill-considered and making for stability
like the checks and balances of our National Gov-
ernment. The response from Trinity College was
74
The Duke Endowment
immediate and complete. It welcomed this call to
greater usefulness. The name was promptly
changed from “Trinity College” to “Duke Univer-
sity”. And in good faith and perfect harmony its
trustees and officials and those of the Endowment
are co-laboring, and in the years to come will con-
tinue so doing, to fulfill the purposes of the Endow-
ment as to Duke University, all parties well under-
standing that this was not simply a change of name
or acquisition of funds for building or mainte-
nance, but a dedication of Trinity College to
achieving these intended educational results.
What are these purposes, these intended results?
They embrace both construction and operation.
The construction program, as outlined for the
Endowment, consisted in expanding and extend-
ing Duke University, acquiring and improving
lands and erecting, remodeling and equipping
buildings for that purpose, to the end that Duke
University might include Trinity College as its
undergraduate department for men, a school of
religious training, a school for training teachers,
a school of chemistry, a law school, a co-ordinate
college for women, a graduate school of arts and
sciences, a medical school and an engineering
school. For it the Endowment allotted $6,000,000,
Mr. Duke gave an additional $2,000,000, and by
Address of William R. Perkins 75
his Will he bequeathed $11,000,000 more, making
a grand total of $19,000,000. It was to be carried
out by the Endowment trustees. And this they are
now doing in two steps or stages.
The first step was enlarging the existing Trinity
College into what will be the Co-ordinate College
for Women of Duke University. Here the plans
required the removal of three buildings and the
addition of eleven buildings, constructed of red
Baltimore brick, trimmed with Vermont marble,
in the Georgian style of architecture. And this unit
has now been completed and is in use. Its main
buildings are grouped about a quadrilateral, at one
end of which is the entrance while the other end is
closed by the Auditorium with its spacious dome,
which constitutes the dominant feature of the en-
semble. And the whole comprises a campus of
108^4 acres, located on Main Street in the western
part of Durham, enclosed by a fine stone wall and
beautifully planted; the auditorium seating 1,400
people, a union building with offices and dining
and service rooms, as a center of student activities,
a capacious library, three science buildings, three
other classroom buildings, an apartment building
containing 18 suites for faculty members, 10 dor-
mitories arranged to house over 1,200 students, be-
sides several residences, a heating plant, and other
The Duke Endowment
76
buildings; also an athletic field provided with
grandstand, bleachers and cinder runningtracks,
and a finely appointed gymnasium with splendid
bathing pool.
The second step was the creation of a new unit,
the College for Men and Graduate and Profes-
sional Schools of Duke University. This is now
well on the road to completion, with the hope of
opening in September, 1930. For it there has been
acquired a campus of some 5,000 acres lying about
a mile to the southwest of the old campus and con-
nected with it by an avenue which passes under
Main Street and the railroad. Here roads are being
laid out, the grounds planted and construction is
proceeding. The architecture is Gothic and the ma-
terial native stone from a nearby quarry with tile
roofs and trimmings of Indiana Limestone. Again
the main buildings are grouped about a quadri-
lateral. The dominant feature, as you approach the
grounds, will be a chapel with imposing spire ris-
ing upwards of 200 feet. To your right, as you face
the chapel, will be the school of religion, the library,
the law school, the chemistry building, the medical
school and hospital, the botany and zoology build-
ing and the physics and science building; while to
your left will be the auditorium seating 1,500
people, the union, again with offices and dining and
Address of William R. Perkins 77
serving rooms, as a center of student activities, and
three groups of dormitories arranged to house 1,500
students. Farther still to the left are the gymnasium
with swimming pool, the athletic fields and the
stadium, or horseshoe bowl, seating 35,000 people,
recently opened, as you no doubt saw in the papers,
with a game between Duke and the University of
Pittsburgh. There is also the heating plant and
laundry. Plans are now being made to erect some
appropriate houses for officials and faculty mem-
bers. And eventually there will be tennis courts,
golf links and probably a lake sufficient for aquatic
sports.
I realize, of course, that what I have said gives
you the merest thumbnail sketch of the physical fea-
tures of Duke University. But neither time nor tal-
ent avail for more. Come and see for yourself. The
trip is well worth while and a cordial invitation is
extended. Though other institutions have finer in-
dividual buildings and a larger aggregate accumu-
lated over the years, this is the greatest piece of
scholastic construction ever consumated at a single
time. And we feel confident that in arrangement,
structure, ornamentation and appointment it will
be an outstanding accomplishment.
The operation of Duke University is in the hands
of its trustees, officials and faculty. For it the En-
78
The Duke Endowment
dowment allotted thirty-two per cent of the dis-
tributable net income arising from its principal and
accretions. And the Will gives all the net income
arising from the $10,000,000 and ten per cent of
the net income arising from the portion of the
residuary estate which it bequeathed to the En-
dowment, less the $11,000,000 it directed to be
spent for building and subject, of course, to the
power of withholding I have mentioned.
In respect of the operation of Duke University
Mr. Duke declared for the guidance of his trustees :
“I have selected Duke University as one
of the principal objects of this trust because
I recognize that education, when conducted
along sane and practical, as opposed to
dogmatic and theoretical, lines, is, next to
religion, the greatest civilizing influence. I
request that this institution secure for its
officers, trustees and faculty men of such
outstanding character, ability and vision
as will insure its attaining and maintaining
a place of real leadership in the educational
world, and that great care and dis-
crimination be exercised in admitting as
students only those whose previous record
shows a character, determination and ap-
plication evincing a wholesome and real
Address of William R. Perkins 79
ambition for life. And I advise that the
courses at this institution be arranged, first,
with special reference to the training of
preachers, teachers, lawyers and physicians,
because these are most in the public eye, and
by precept and example can do most to
uplift mankind, and, second, to instruction
in chemistry, economics and history, espe-
cially the lives of the great of earth, because
I believe that such subjects will most help
to develop our resources, increase our wis-
dom and promote human happiness.”
I should like, if I may, to dwell somewhat on that
statement. It is a formula for our educational prob-
lems from a business man of rare ability and ex-
perience and will repay your earnest consideration.
Though brief, it is most expressive.
He lays down the basis on which to proceed. He
says education, next to religion, is the greatest
civilizing influence “when conducted along sane
and practical, as opposed to dogmatic and theoreti-
cal, lines”. This is a recurrence to fundamentals, a
subordination of isms to the common sense of the
job. And it is timely and wise. There must be pro-
vided a broad groundwork of accepted education,
both general and special, totally outside the con-
troversial fields of thought, for the great body of
8o
The Duke Endowment
the people. Our higher education, so called and all
right in its place, must be nurtured in a soil thus
prepared ; unless erected on such a foundation it is
the sport of the winds and a menace. But beyond
that, we are the melting pot of the races, a fact as
yet less apparent South than North and West. Our
proclaimed liberty, in whose name so many crimes
are committed, has made us the mecca and paradise
of earth’s doctrinaires. While no one would limit
thought or stifle honest expression, a decent regard
for our ideals and institutions demands, at the least
and above all else, a wholesome diet of substantial
foods that will produce solid, balanced Americans
who can assimilate properly.
He tells us the raw material to get. He says there
should be admitted as students only those whose
previous record shows “a character, determination
and application evincing a wholesome and real
ambition for life”. Time was when schools went out
in search of students. Now, due to growth of popu-
lation and prolongation of courses, there is an over-
supply, despite increase in facilities, and the prob-
lem is one of selection. And here Mr. Duke requests
that “great care and discrimination be exercised”.
The subject is too big to discuss now. But among
other things I feel sure he meant that the matter
should be handled as individually as possible; more
Address of William R. Perkins 8i
so, in my opinion, than by the entrance examination
method upon which such great reliance is now
being placed. That is too much a rule of thumb for
mass production to get the desired results. We
should ascertain family facts and antecedents, the
record of study and conduct in previous schools and
the views of friends and neighbors. Some boys and
girls will not take a college education, much to the
discouragement of their parents, though there
should be none; for no doubt as large a proportion
of these will succeed in after life as of attendants
at college. And those who take a college education
have different types and bents of mind. So our job
is to help the young people to find themselves and
we can do this only through the care and discrimi-
nation which Mr. Duke advocates. This point is
really the great cross-roads of life and its method
of handling makes or mars more years and lives
than all else combined.
He points out the tools to use. They are “men of
such outstanding character, ability and vision” for
officers, trustees and faculty as will insure the Uni-
versity “attaining and maintaining a place of real
leadership in the educational world”. No one real-
ized more fully than Mr. Duke that fine buildings
do not make a fine school. If possible, the human
equation is more vital there than almost any other
82
The Duke Endowment
place. To capability must be added that indefinable
thing we call personality. For my own part, I be-
lieve the young people get much more from the
lives encountered than the books studied. Run back
in memory to your own college days and you will
find standing out in the perspective some splendid
man or woman as the influence that still enthralls
you. They meet us at the threshold of life when
faith is new and hopes are high and on our open
minds for good or bad make impressions that en-
dure. A pebble in the streamlet’s flow has changed
the course of many a river; a bird upon the tiny
bough has warped the giant oak forever.
And may I add, parenthetically, how inadequate
seems to me our appreciation of such an important
service. I have been really astonished at the little
recognition accorded these unsung heroes, not
simply in money but in various other ways. How
many are in our halls of fame or compendiums of
lives worth while? No, look at it as you please,
other pursuits are vastly more inviting, other fields
far greener. Why, many of those who do take up
teaching have to eke out a livelihood by writing, lec-
turing or otherwise, to the neglect of the students
and their own disgust at the inequalities of life.
No wonder so many of our boys and girls tire of
their studies, get imbued with foolish notions and
Address of William R. Perkins 83
come home thinking our boasted civilization all
wrong.
And he specifies the products he desires, giving
the reasons for his preferences. He puts first, the
training of preachers, teachers, lawyers and physi-
cians because he considers these are “most in the
public eye and by precept and example can do most
to uplift mankind”. He puts second, instruction in
chemistry, economics and history, especially the
lives of the great of earth, because he believes such
subjects “will most help to develop our resources,
increase our wisdom and promote human happi-
ness”.
To uplift mankind! To promote human happi-
ness! Such is the true philosophy and the sublime
of life. Such, in its essence, is The Duke Endow-
ment I have endeavored to portray to you.
Quite a number of years ago, as Mr. Duke and
I sat talking, he fell into one of those reminiscent
moods that come to us all now and then. And under
the impulse of the fascinating retrospection I asked
him what he regarded as the greatest thing he had
done. His answer was, assembling in The American
Tobacco Company a group of men so capable that
each of the large companies into which it was split
by the Federal Courts could be amply manned to
84 The Duke Endowment
preserve this great industry and safeguard those in-
terested in it.
The years rolled on. The Endowment became a
living fact. And again Mr. Duke and I were talk-
ing together. I reminded him of the conversation
I have just narrated. And I asked, “What do you
say now, Mr. Duke, is the greatest thing you have
done?” Without hesitation he replied, “The crea-
tion of the Endowment, because through it I make
men.”
I often think of those talks, as I do, indeed, of my
whole association with Mr. Duke, now, unhappily,
but a memory. To me it was an education, a de-
light, an inspiration. I feel sure there never was a
more complete and unreserved relationship be-
tween attorney and client. That was his way. He
was frankness and simplicity itself. His associates
were just members of a big family, laboring to a
common end, each putting in his oar according to
his talents and training.
Mr. Duke created the fortune he amassed. He
did not prosper at any one’s expense. On the con-
trary, he carried his business associates with him to
an extent that gained for him the reputation of hav-
ing made more millionaires than any other Ameri-
can. One of his maxims was never to make any
money out of those engaged in an undertaking with
Address of William R. Perkins 85
him. When I came with him he cautioned me to
take pains to draw all papers fairly and plainly,
saying no contract was any stronger than the inter-
est of the parties to keep it. He was an early and
ardent advocate of the bonus system, whereby a
share of the net profits went to both officers and
employees in addition to their regular compensa-
tion. And this, in various forms, has now been
widely adopted and is doing more, perhaps, than
any one thing to solve our difficult labor problems
by making business a partnership, so to speak, be-
tween owners and operators.
Mr. Duke reaped much because he sowed
largely and well. His test of a business project was
whether or not it would do the job better and
cheaper than it was then being done. If careful in-
vestigation and consideration showed the proposal
to be sound he threw himself into it unsparingly.
To realize what I mean you have but to contrast
the tobacco industry today and when he entered
that field. Then the plant was little more than a
weed. Now it forms one of the largest crops, sells
in all the markets of earth, gives employment to
thousands and returns millions in revenue to the
Government and in profits to investors.
Nature endowed Mr. Duke most generously. A
truly magnificent mind was supported by a splen-
86
The Duke Endowment
did physique and graced with those finer qualities
that mark the true gentleman. Common sense,
rugged honesty, dynamic energy, tenacity of pur-
pose and courage of conviction were his in abund-
ance. He was most considerate of others, their
rights, opinions and pleasures, which made him
always a charming host and temperate in his views
and expressions. I never heard him use an oath and
he rarely spoke disparagingly of anyone.
His poise and self-restraint were wonderful. Not
many men have been more misrepresented to the
public than he. On the hustings and in press and
periodicals, by politicians consumed with lust for
office or those courting notoriety through cheap
sensationalism, Mr. Duke was reviled and held up
to scorn and contempt, often in terms so extravagant
they overreached themselves and fell upon the
other side. This still persists notwithstanding his
death. He knew, and I also knew, that these canards
were utterly baseless and untrue. Yet he opened not
his mouth and held in check the righteous wrath of
family and friends.
A striking example of this characteristic occurred
in his efforts to obtain an increase in power rates
without which I have told you he was unwill-
ing to turn his power properties into the Endow-
ment. To secure this increase an application was
Address of William R. Perkins 87
made to the proper State Commissions. And to the
extent the increase should be allowed it would
raise the rates in existing contracts and not simply
apply to contracts thereafter made. In order to ob-
viate this effect (though it was a proper effect be-
cause the law had made this risk a part of each
contract), a good many power users joined in an
appeal to the Legislature of the State of North
Carolina to pass an act restricting any such increase
to future contracts only; and one of their main
arguments was that Mr. Duke should not be per-
mitted to use the natural resources of the State to
coin more money for his already bulging pockets.
I pleaded with Mr. Duke to confound these op-
ponents by making known his plan for the Endow-
ment. But he refused, saying he did not wish to pre-
vail that way, as it was a business proposition with
these customers and he was entitled to win out on
the merits. And win out he did !
During the world war at the request of the
Government Mr. Duke formed and headed a to-
bacco committee. It was composed of the presidents
of various tobacco concerns. Among the members
was a splendid citizen of the Old Dominion who
for years had been a prominent “so-called” inde-
pendent tobacconist and so a conspicuous competi-
tor of Mr. Duke. The two met for the first time
88
The Duke Endowment
when the committee assembled in Washington.
There were also present representatives of the
Army and Navy and they complained bitterly that
every little tobacconist in America thought the
Government should buy his products. Mr. Duke
quietly remarked that he would never advise the
Government to ignore the small concerns. On the
instant this Virginia gentleman was up and across
the room, saying to Mr. Duke, “There’s my hand.
Sir, I have been wrong about you all this time.” I
never saw a more dramatic scene. The two became
staunch friends and admirers, and the former ad-
versary is now outspoken in his declaration that
Mr. Duke was one of the finest and fairest men that
ever lived.
Lastly, I would have you know that Mr. Duke
believed devoutly in God and the Future Life. His
faith was simple and sincere. During his last illness
I remarked to him how I wished that a thousand
years hence we might know how the Endowment
was faring. He said he had no doubt whatever we
would know and understand, that he could not con-
ceive man was but born to die.
No one then realized that the time of his de-
parture was at hand. But soon he passed peacefully
into the Great Beyond and became a part of the
Ages.
Address of William R. Perkins 89
Verily, a workman that needeth not to be
ashamed, he rests from his labors, but his deeds
abide to bless. And among them shines the En-
dowment, an enduring lighthouse of humanity
which will forever send forth its beams of loving
helpfulness across life’s storm-tossed sea.
I thank you.
[The foregoing address was delivered before The Sphex Club
at Lynchburg, Va., October 11, 1929.]
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